The Chronicle of the Tusk
The Tusk is the premier holy artifact of both the Inrithi and Kiünnat traditions, and the most unholy in the Fanim tradition, where it is referred to as Rouk Spara (“Cursed Thorn” in Kianni). The text itself is the scriptural foundation for all mannish faiths save Fanimry. For the Inrithi The Tractate is both the prophesied culmination and an amendment of The Chronicle of the Tusk. The Object The Chronicle of the Tusk is the most ancient extant human text in Eärwa. It is written in Thoti-Eännorean, the alleged mother tongue of all Men. As the oldest literate work, its provenance is almost entirely unknown. Many Inrithi commentators have pointed out that it must have been a collective work, cobbled together from many (likely oral) sources over a period of many years. Since the Tusk bears the oldest extant version of The Chronicle of the Tusk, its provenance remains an utter mystery to men, though most scholars agree that it predates the coming of the Five Tribes of Men to Eärwa. Like most scriptures, its popular interpretation is highly selective and idealized. The Tusk has always been in the possession of one tribe, the Ketyai. Throughout most of recorded history, since the earliest days of Shigek, before even the rise of Kyraneas, the Tusk has been installed in Sumna, holiest city of Inrithism located in Nansur. Though during the Apocalypse, after the Battle of Mehsarunath in 2154, the Tusk was evacuated and brought to ancient Invishi in Nilnamesh. The Tusk is enshrined in the Junriüma, also known as the Vault-of-the-Tusk, an ancient fortress-temple located in the heart of the Hagerna in Sumna. It has recently been revealed that the Tusk was gifted to the Ketyai by the Inchoroi. The Chronicle of the Tusk consists for the most part of the stories and traditions of men before they crossed the mountains, with one ‘devious addition’: the command to invade Eärwa and destroy the ‘False Men’.Interview with R. Scott Bakker at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist The Text The Chronicle of the Tusk consists of six books: the Book of Canticles, the Book of Gods, the Book of Hintarates, the Book of Songs, the Book of Tribes, and the Book of Warrants. Book of Canticles Canticles contains the old “Tusk Laws” regarding every aspect of personal and public life. In Inrithi tradition these were superseded by the revised strictures of The Tractate, though it is still referred to in cases on which Inri Sejenus was silent. Known laws include: *Concerning Sorcerers, “Cut from them their tongues, for their blasphemy is an abomination like no other …” “Burn them, for they are Unclean.” From this text, Inrithi call sorcerers the Unclean. *Children are to be stoned to death for striking their parents. *When a man murdered some other man’s brother, his own brother is to be executed. *Verse 19:9 “Suffer not a whore to live, for she maketh a pit of her womb! Suffer not a whore to breathe, for she mocks the seed of the righteous! Stone her so that thy hand shall not be tempt—” *False Prophets are banned. The punishment is to be scourged. *Verse 18:9 “As death is the sum of all harms, so is murder the sum of all sins.” Book of Gods The primary scripture of the Cults, enumerating the various Gods, and explaining the rites of purification and propitiation basic to each. Collectively these Gods are known as the Hundred Gods. Ajokli is listed among the primary Gods, and Yatwer is anything but revered in The Chronicle of the Tusk (wherein “tillers of soil” are often referred to with contempt). Book of Hintarates The story of Hintarates describes an upright man plagued with apparently undeserved adversity. Book of Songs A collection of verse prayers and parables extolling the virtues of piety, manliness, courage, and tribal loyalty. Lines include: *Verse 57:3 “For all things there is a toll. We pay in breaths, and our purse is soon empty.” *“There is no friend more difficult, than a sinner.” *Verse 6:33 “You are fallen from Him like sparks from the flame. A dark wind blows, and you are soon to flicker out.” Book of Tribes Tribes presents the extended narrative of the first Prophets and Chieftain-Kings of the Five Tribes of Men before the invasion of Eärwa. Angeshraël is the most famed Old Prophet of the Tusk, responsible for leading the Five Tribes of Men into Eärwa. While on Mount Eshki, the “Mountain of Revelation,” the Prophet Angeshraël received the call to lead the Tribes of Men into Eärwa. After coming down from the mountain he is confronted by Husyelt, and bows his face into his fire. Kellhus describes this as follows: :The Prophet Angeshrael, came down from his fast on Mount Eshki. Husyelt, the Tusk tells us, sent a hare to him, so he might eat at last. Angeshrael skinned the Hunter’s gift and struck a fire so he might feast. When he had eaten and was content, sacred Husyelt, the Holy Stalker, joined him at his fire, for the Gods in those days had not left the world in the charge of Men. Angeshrael, recognising the God as the God, fell immediately to his knees before the fire, not thinking where he would throw his face. Like a young man on his wedding night, he erred in his eagerness . . . And the God said, ‘Why does our Prophet fall to his knees only? Are not Prophets Men like other Men? Should they not throw their faces to the earth?’ To which Angeshrael replied, ‘I find my fire before me.’ And peerless Husyelt said, ‘The fire burns across earth, and what fire consumes becomes earth. I am your God. Throw your face to the earth.’ So Angeshrael, the Tusk tells us, bowed his head into the flames. Angeshrael. The Burnt Prophet. He lowered his face into fire! Fire! Angeshraël seeks to convince the Tribes of men, called the Children of Eänna in the Tusk, to cross the Great Kayarsus mountains, and on Mount Kinsureah, the “Mountain of Summoning,” he sacrifices Oresh, the youngest of his sons by his wife Esmenet, to demonstrate his conviction to the Tribes of Men. Four tribes agree, but the Xiuhianni, a black-haired, brown-eyed, olive-skinned race, refuse to follow the other four tribes into Eärwa. Angeshraël also incites the Four Nations of Men to embark on a holy war of extermination against the Nonmen of Eärwa. The Tusk generally refers to Nonmen as Oserukki, the “Not Us.” Angeshraël alternately refers to them as “the Accursed Ones” and “the sodomite Kings of Eärwa,” According to the Tusk, the Nonmen are anathema: :Hearken, for this the God has said, '' :“These False Men offend Me;'' :blot out all mark of their Passing” Verse 21:13 states: :“And We will give over all of them, slain, to the Children of Eänna; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. You shall bathe your feet in the blood of the wicked.” The Chieftain-Kings; Shelgal, Mamayma, Nomur, Inshull and Uskelt Wolfheart, lead the tribes into Eärwa. The Tusk ends with the determination to invade Eärwa, or the Land of the “Uplifted Sun.” Verse 6:42 states: :"Look unto other and ponder the sin and folly you find there. For their sin is your sin, and their folly is your folly. Seek ye the true reflecting pool? Look to the stranger you despites, not the friend you love." Book of Warrants Warrants is an account of the observances governing the interactions between castes. Verse 7:48 reads: :“Bring he who has spoken prophecy to the judgement of the priests, and if his prophecy is judged true, acclaim him, for he is clean, and if his prophecy is judged false, bind him to the corpse of his wife, and hang him one cubit above the earth, for he is unclean, an anathema unto the Gods.” The punishment is described as follows: :Before roaring mobs, Incheiri Gotian had stripped Kellhus of his clothing, then whipped him with cedar branches until he’d bled from a hundred places. Afterward, they bound his bleeding body to Serwë’s nude corpse, ankle to ankle, wrist to wrist, face to face. Then they lashed the two of them, limbs outstretched, to a great bronze ring, which they hoisted and chained—upside down no less—to the winding girth of Umiaki’s lowest and mightiest limb. Texts of unknown origin The following texts are stated to be from The Chronicle of the Tusk, but it is unclear what book they come from. *“All things both sacred and vile, speak to the hearts of Men, and they are bewildered, and holding out their hands to darkness, they name it light.” *“Hearken Truth, for it strides fiercely among you, and will not be denied.” *“Fear him, for he is the deceiver, the Lie made Flesh, come among you to foul the waters of your heart.” A Shaman is both prophet and sorcerer. The original Men of Eärwa, slaves of the Nonmen, were called the Emwama. The Text also describes a ritual preformed after battle: :That evening Gotian directed his fellow Great Names to set their booted feet upon the man’s cheek, saying, “Cherish the power the God has given us over our enemies.” It was an ancient ritual, first practised in the days of the Tusk. Afterward, they hung the Sapatishah from a tree. References Category:Religious artifacts Category:Religious texts